


Dark Rebirth

by RebornScavenger



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Dark Side Rey (Star Wars), Empress Rey (Star Wars), Eventual Relationships, Eventual Rey/Rose, F/F, Gen, Rating May Change, Sith Rey (Star Wars), Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28634235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebornScavenger/pseuds/RebornScavenger
Summary: During the Battle of Exegol, Rey comes face to face with the former Emperor and reclaims the power of her dark legacy.
Relationships: Rey/Rose Tico
Comments: 12
Kudos: 28





	1. Part I: The Battle of Exegol

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: There is dialogue in the beginning chapters of this fic that is taken directly from The Rise of Skywalker. These will be denoted with an * around the quote. Again, this is not my own original dialogue and I claim no ownership of it.

As soon as Rey exited hyperspace into Exegol, she was surprised at what she saw. The entire atmosphere was an unnatural shade of blue _,_ illuminated only by the occasional burst of lightning.  
Dread filled her entire body as she realized how many Star Destroyers there truly were in front of her. Surprisingly, they did not fire on her. _Maybe they don’t know I’m here_ , Rey thought to herself.

Another thought quickly sprang to her mind, _Maybe they’re expecting me..._

  
With a shaky breath, she deployed the X-Wing’s defensive wings and prepared for descent.  
Rey chose to concentrate only on the sky in front of her, instead of the enormous fleet of Star Destroyers surrounding her. As she descended, she could see the Destroyers slowly rising higher into the atmosphere, almost as if they expected her and the Resistance to come. Rey hoped they didn’t and it was simply a coincidence, but knowing the Force, it probably wasn’t.

She directed the X-wing toward a large, upside down pyramid that jut out from Exegol’s surface. As she landed, she could feel the dark side of the Force surround her, suffocating but strangely welcoming at the same time. Rey paused before she exited, that dreadful feeling surrounding her, planting doubts in her mind about destroying the Sith. But Rey knew what she had to do. She removed her worn helmet and exited the old X-wing.

Exegol’s heat was not as suffocating as Jakku’s but it carried an air of dread and ancient darkness. Rey walked toward the structure, her steps heavy but focused. The sand beneath her gently crunched underneath her boots as lightning danced around her, showcasing the structure Rey was about to enter. It was old and made of black stone, worn over time by Exegol’s harsh weather. There was no door, only a narrow space underneath the pyramid where Rey could walk. She reluctantly strode inside, the minimal blue light and the Force being her only guide inside this alien place.

Soon she reached a place near the middle of the pyramid where a large stone slab lightly dusted with sand sat partially sunken into the floor. Rey knew that her path to end the Sith lie wherever this slab took her. She stepped on it, and, by machinations she was unaware of, the slab lowered her down into a cavernous chamber, guarded by enormous stone statues. Even down here the lightning flashing outside illuminated the statues, giving them an unearthly blue glow and accentuating their menacing features.  
  
The slab finally lowered Rey down to the floor, making her feel even smaller inside the cavern. The statues she saw from her descent stared down at her, their menacing expressions seeming to turn to quick glances of approval. The air down here was strangely cold, making goosebumps form over Rey’s skin as she started to walk down the long hall. More blue light seemed to occasionally come through large cracks in the floor, giving enough light for Rey to continue on. At the end of the hall, Rey could see a doorway, if a long, straight crack in the black stone could be called a door. The light from the cracks in the floor moved along the length of the hallway, seeming to guide Rey to the doorway ahead.

As Rey walked further down the hall, the cracks in the floor occasionally lighting up with eerie blue-white light, she caught the orange glow from arcane machine out of the corner of her eye. Rey had seen many strange types of machinery during her past life as a scavenger on Jakku, but nothing like this. The machines looked haphazardly placed inside the large cavern, strange mechanical arms attached to machines and mysterious wires hung on unknown places. Rey dared not approach the machines further, out of uncertainty about their purpose and fear that whoever created or ran these machines might be lurking close by.

She glanced around the chamber, the statues still watching her with their dreadful expressions. Rey looked into the eyes of one that seemed to look approvingly at her, as if it was goading her on to the chamber ahead. The lightning lit the statue, which was of a hooded alien that Rey was unfamiliar with, that had long tendrils reaching from the base of its cheekbones to hang around its cold, commanding face.  
  


She shuddered a bit and refocused her mind on the task at hand, confronting the enemy she had come here to end. She knew that she had to continue on, not just for her and her friends, but for the future of the galaxy.  
Rey took in a few shaky breaths and continued on into the large crevice in the wall.

Rey slowly walked inside toward the end of the cold stone hallway. The ceiling seemed to stretch above her into darkness, sparsely lit by the continuous blue light. She slowly trudged on through the darkness until she reached the end, which opened up into an enormous chamber with a stone structure in front of her. Its stone spikes branched out to the side of the structure, menacing and dreadful, making Rey’s mind fill with simultaneous dread and curiosity. Was this the throne she saw in her vision on Ajan Kloss? Rey thought as she stepped toward the throne, spikes of stone littering the ground around her, reached toward the back of the throne as if they wished to point Rey toward it. Sand pooled at the base of the stone spikes, softly stirring underneath Rey’s boots. She stalked around the base of the throne, careful not to take her eyes off it, only diverting her gaze for a brief moment to step around a fallen piece of stone.  
  
As she moved to face the front of the throne, her expression quickly changed from one of curiosity to dreadful realization as she knew in her mind that this was the throne she saw in her vision. The throne of the Sith. The throne she saw _herself_ on.  
  


The throne itself was carved out of a single block of stone, its menacing spikes reaching toward the sky, its seat only accentuating its horrible appeal. A pair of matching spikes accentuated the arms of the dreadful throne, with steps leading up to it. An arcane symbol of the Sith decorated the back of the seat, a representation of an ancient time when the Sith ruled the galaxy. Lightning danced around the throne, making Rey shiver in fear.

Behind her, Rey started to hear the chanting of an unknown choir. She turned around and saw a ghastly array of robed figures, surrounding her in the chamber in seats above, chanting for her downfall. Rey fearfully glanced around the room, releasing a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.  
  
With the final strike of a flash of lightning, the chanting stopped. Rey heard a deep voice speak from behind her. *“Long have I waited, ”* the voice said, echoing in the large chamber. Rey paused and hesitantly turned around.  
  


She saw the foreboding face of Palpatine before her, the scourge of the galaxy, mastermind behind the fall of the Republic, and the Emperor of the old Galactic Empire.  
  


*“For my granddaughter to come home.”* he continued. A pit formed in Rey’s stomach at his acknowledgment of her legacy. Looking into Palpatine’s near lifeless eyes made her stomach churn as she saw what his festering corpse of a body was attached to. A long, snake-like machine was attached to Palpatine’s back, stabilizing his fragile body. Rey could see that the machine stretched far above her head and was attached to an unknown source. Another flash of lightning illuminated his decaying body and the surprisingly pristine robe he wore despite his appearance. The pit in Rey’s stomach grew but she knew she must face him before he could terrorize the galaxy again.

*“I never wanted you dead, ”* Palpatine reassured her as the machine he was attached to slowly moved toward Rey. *“I wanted you here, Empress Palpatine.”* Palpatine gestured toward the throne.  
Rey slowly stepped back as the machine lurched forward. _Why did he want her here? Why did he spend all this time trying to have Kylo kill her_ _i_ _f he wanted her here_ _?_ Rey’s mind whirled with questions.

*“You will take the throne”*, he demanded, as if he expected Rey to immediately accept his offer.  
*“It is your birthright to rule,”* he continued, admittedly making Rey’s pride swell a bit. _She was meant to rule? She, Rey of Jakku, was born to rule?_ _A scavenger from nowhere was meant to rule the galaxy_ _as Empress_ _?_ _  
_ She almost liked the idea of ruling a galaxy. No one to answer to. No war with the First Order. She would always be able to protect her friends from harm. Never again would they be captured by an enemy, not with Rey there.  
  


She listened to Palpatine’s offer further.

*“It is in your blood. Our blood.”* Palpatine finished. Rey thought for a moment. Part of her started to feel anger toward her parents for leaving her on Jakku to fend for herself, not when she could’ve lived a life without the pain, hunger, and misery she had come to accept on Jakku. But another part of her acknowledged that without her parents, Palpatine would’ve taken her and she would never have met Finn, Poe, Rose, and all the other people in the Resistance she had started to call family. Who knows where she would be now?  
  
*“I haven’t come to lead the Sith. I’ve come to end them.”* Rey said as confidently as she could with Palpatine inching ever closer to her. She slowly backed away, cautious of what would happen should she approach him.  
  
*“As a Jedi”*, he asked, disappointment and disdain in his voice. Red robed guards, much like Snoke’s Praetorian, moved to stand in a circle around her and the former Emperor. Rey cautiously watched them, wary of what they might do. She was always aware of her surroundings.

*“Yes.”* she responded, looking Palpatine shakenly in his sunken, milky-white eyes.  
  
“No. Your hatred. Your anger. You want to kill me.” Palpatine said, his teeth pulling back into an inhuman grin. *“That is what I want. Kill me and my spirit will pass into you. As all the Sith live in me.”*

She knew that manipulation was at the heart of Palpatine’s actions. Always working ahead of the people he destroyed. If she accepted his offer, would it be worth it?  
  
*“You will be Empress. We will be one.”*  
  
She shivered as he finished, wary of the consequences should she take his offer.  
Rey never liked the idea of sharing portions with anyone on Jakku without reason, and she wasn’t going to be completely convinced of sharing her body with the galaxy’s most notorious tyrant. But maybe she wouldn’t have to share her body? Maybe it meant she would take on his power?  
  
The idea of being Empress of the galaxy’s largest fleet did start to appeal to Rey, in a way. She would be free to do as she wished, with no one to oppose her. The war would finally end, because of her. She would be a hero, lauded on every world for saving the galaxy. The galaxy would be peaceful and she could finally build the life she always wanted, on the greenest, most lush world the galaxy had to offer.

  
  
Palpatine’s voice rang out, dragging Rey away from her thoughts. *“The time has come!”*  
The ghastly choir’s chanting began again, but more fevered and fanatical than when she had entered. Rey had become part of a ritual, one that she was now the center of.

*“With your anger, you will take my life, and you will ascend.”* Palpatine continued, his voice echoing.

Rey defiantly rebutted, *“All you want for me to do is to hate, but I won’t. Not even you.”*

As the words left Rey’s mouth, she began to doubt them. In a way, she did hate Palpatine. Hated him for starting this war, hated him for making her come here, away from her friends. She hated the fear and pain the First Order had brought to everyone.

*“Weak. Like your parents.”*, Palpatine spit out.  
  
Anger started to build in Rey. She never remembered her parents, only in distant dreams, but she _hated_ the idea of someone calling her weak. She was not _weak._ Not after everything she went through on Jakku and on her journey to become a Jedi.  
  
Rey angrily stared Palpatine down, as if she could kill him herself with her own hate-filled stare.

Palpatine smirked and suddenly the roof opened above Rey’s head, showing the battle above her in Exegol’s cold skies.  
She stared at the battle in horror, realizing that her friends in the Resistance were sacrificing themselves for her. For this.  
  
*“They don’t have long.”* Palpatine said. *“No one is coming to help them. And you are the one that led them here.”*  
  
Rey hated to acknowledge it, but it was true. She did lead them here, to their deaths. Finn, Rose, Poe, BB-8, all of them would be dead. Because of her. Guilt started to overwhelm her body as Palpatine continued to speak.  
  
*“Strike me down. Take the throne. Reign over the new Empire...and the fleet will be yours. Only you have the power to save them. Refuse, and your new family...dies.”* he dictated.  
_Palpatine spoke the truth_ , she thought. One by one, she could feel the deaths of Resistance pilots through the Force as they were shot down, never to be seen again. She couldn’t let her friends die. Never. She knew she had to make the right choice for them.

Rey reluctantly turned around and sorrowfully nodded to Palpatine. She must take the fleet to save her friends. She must end Palpatine’s reign by ending his life.

*“Good.”* Palpatine cooed in approval.

*“The ritual begins!”* he shouts and the hooded crowd chants in approval.  
*“She will strike me down and pledge herself as a Sith!”* he shouts as he lowers himself to Rey, prepared for her to end his life.

The choir chants behind Rey, obedient to the last. In a strange way, the chanting felt empowering to Rey.

*“She will draw her weapon.”* Palpatine commands. Rey removes her saber from her belt and ignites it, prepared to do the right thing for the galaxy. The chanting continues from behind her, making her heart race with anticipation.

*“She will come to me.”* Palpatine commands again and Rey confidently steps forward of her own volition.

*“She will take her revenge. And with a stroke of her saber, the Sith are reborn!”* Rey continues to step forward, until she is eye to eye with Palpatine and his decaying body.

*“The Jedi are dead!”* One last chant is heard and Palpatine tilts his head back to prepare for the end. Rey raises her saber above her head and with a final intake of breath, brings her burning vengeance down upon the scourge of the galaxy.  
She neatly cleaved Palpatine’s body in two, part of his torso and the tattered, scorched robes he wore dropping to the ground with a satisfying thud. The remains of the rest of his body clung to his machine but they eventually fall, the machine no longer able to support him.  
  
Rey stares at his body for what seems like an eternity. As she stares, she feels power surging through her body, electrifying and potent. She became more aware of the Force around her in what seemed like an instant. _Yes,_ she thought. _This was the right decision._

A satisfied grin slowly creeps onto her face as she steps away from his corpse and takes her rightful seat on the throne of the Sith.

  
“Call off the fleet.” she orders the red cloaked soldiers. They nod, and eventually, the fighting stops. Everything stands still.


	2. Part I: The Battle of Exegol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben Solo chapter coming next! This chapter focuses on Rose and the Resistance.

While Rey was engaged on the surface of Exegol with Palpatine, another war took place in the skies. Finn, Rose, and the entirety of the Resistance had followed Rey’s path to Exegol, to distract the Final Order’s fleet while Rey fought the former Emperor below.

The Resistance fleet fought valiantly as they dived down to the comm beacon on Exegol’s sandy surface.

They had already lost a few ships, too many to lose for the already small fleet they’d brought here. They had brought everything and everyone from Ajan Kloss here to Exegol and any casualties could mean defeat or capture for them.  
  
Rose, Finn, Jannah, and a small ground team were holed up in the Resistance troop carrier _Fortitude,_ heading toward Exegol’s bleak, sandy surface. The plan was, as covered before they left Ajan Kloss, to land on Exegol and blow up the navigation beacon for the Final Order’s enormous fleet. Without it, they would be unable to launch from the atmosphere, allowing the Resistance to stall for Rey and the fight she had to undertake with the former Sith Emperor.  
  
Rose sat in the hold of the _Fortitude,_ waiting for the well-used transport to reach the surface. Tension was high as the ground team contemplated their mission. She could see the grim certainty on their faces. They knew what they were here for and the reality of their mission. Rose did not want to think about what would happen if they got captured if they failed. From what Finn had told her, nothing good would happen. Likely death.

*“There it is. Poe, I see it.” *, she heard Finn say from the cockpit of the carrier. They were almost to the surface and the nav tower, but Rose knew their mission wasn’t over yet. Who knows what forces the Final Order had here on the surface?

*“I’ve got a visual on the tower.” * Finn confirmed. The carrier dipped and sped up, making Rose’s stomach lurch. Planetary landings were never something she enjoyed. The back of the carrier shuddered as TIE fighter lasers hit the aft end. In that moment, Rose was grateful that they had Poe and his squadron here and that she had taken the time to improve the defenses of the _Fortitude_ back on Ajan Kloss.

Rose could see Finn talking into his comm to Poe and the rest of his squad. Even from here, she could tell that Finn’s body became more tense but determined as the conversation went on.

*“What?” * Finn said. _That doesn’t sound good._ Rose thought. _If the Final Order has changed the plan, then…how do we stop them?_ Rose took a deep breath. She needed to have faith in their plan. Somehow, someway, they were going to stop the First Order no matter what.

The transport circled and lurched upward, back toward the endless fleet.

*“The nav signal’s coming from that command ship. That’s our drop zone.” * Rose realized what Finn was going to do. They were going to board a Star Destroyer.

*“I don’t want to, but we can’t take out that ship’s nav system from the air.” * Finn said as he got up from the copilot’s chair and walked back into the hold. _He was right._ Rose thought. _It wasn’t the best option, not with the forces they had. But it was the only one._  
Boarding that Star Destroyer now was their only hope of stopping the Final Order from unleashing their near endless fleet upon the galaxy.

*“Give us cover. We gotta keep that fleet there till help arrives.” *, he orders. Rose passes him as she hurries up to the cockpit to check on the pilots and to grab a piece of equipment.

*“We hope.” * Rose chimes in as she passes Finn on her way to the rear hold. She truly did hope they would be able to pull this off. If not, then it was all up to Rey.

*“We hope.” *, he repeats after her.

The carrier suddenly jerked out of the way of laser blasts coming from the command ship, making the transport shake, nearly knocking Rose over. She grabbed onto the doorway to the rear hold just in time to catch her fall. In front of her were the rest of the ground team, along with a surprise for the Final Order.  
Jannah and her crew had brought along a small herd of orbaks, furry, hooved creatures from Kef Bir that the ground team was originally going to ride once they landed. Rose knew that the Final Order could jam their speeders, which is why she suggested to Jannah that they bring the orbaks along. It took a while to load them onto the _Fortitude_ back on Ajan Kloss, as they were just as stubborn as they were hairy. It took five people to load them on, with Jannah leading them. Rose wondered how her crew was even able to tame them on Kef Bir, but maybe that was a story she would ask later if they all survived.

She saw Jannah gearing up the orbaks for the landing. They had makeshift armor covering their vital organs and parts of their head, per Jannah’s suggestion. Hopefully the orbaks would survive this.  
  
Everyone knew this wouldn’t be a simple job, and the Final Order would have troops on standby nearly as soon as they landed. Suddenly she could feel the _Fortitude_ land and skid to a halt on the surface of the _Steadfast_ , jerking everyone forward in the transport.

Jannah shouted, “Everyone, on the orbaks, now!” Every orbak that they brought with them now had a rider, but everyone else would be facing the Final Order on foot. Finn and Jannah maneuvered their orbaks so that they would be the first ones out.  
Rose stood still behind them, took a deep breath and held her crescent-shaped pendant made of Hasian smelt to her chest. She could do this. For her friends. For Paige.  
  
The doors opened onto the _Steadfast_ and Exegol’s stormy skies. The herd of orbaks let out a bleat and stormed out of the _Fortitude_ and onto the hull of the _Steadfast,_ BB-8 rolling around to lead the charge _._ All around them, the Star Destroyer’s laser cannons fired at their friends flying above and around them.

Rose could feel the ship shudder beneath her as the fighting continued while she and the rest of the ground team ran out of the _Fortitude._ Finn and Jannah valiantly led the Resistance ground team toward the comm tower, their orbak’s hooves thundering against the cold metal hull. Rose stayed focused, knowing that part of this mission’s success depended on the ground team destroying that comm tower.

She heard Finn yell, *“Not bad for one lesson!” *

Jannah encouragingly yelled back, *“You had a good teacher!” * Rose was starting to like Jannah a lot more. She was very resourceful and a wonderful addition to the Resistance. Hopefully, she would stick around with them.  
  
As the orbaks thundered across the hull of the _Steadfast,_ Rose could see a small group of troop carriers landing on the hull. _More stormtroopers. We need to cover Finn and Jannah,_ she thought. She rose her fist in the air and shouted, “We got troopers incoming!”

  
However, the stormtroopers that rushed out of the carriers were not the ones the Resistance often fought. These had red armor and seemed to carry an air of oppression and fear with them.

The red stormtroopers started firing a spray of blaster bolts at the ground team as soon as their carrier doors opened.  
  
Rose took in a breath, removed her blaster rifle from her back, and charged at them. She fired a shot and hit a trooper square in the chest. They went down but their comrade fired at her next, the blaster bolt nearly missing her right side.

*“Keep going!” *, someone shouted over the sounds of blaster fire.

These new stormtroopers were more relentless than the ones Rose was used to fighting. They seemed more determined to kill the entire ground team, two members having already been gunned down. Rose quickly fired back at them but missed. She quickly ducked behind a blown out piece of hull to evade the stormtroopers’ blaster fire.  
Up ahead, she could see Finn and Jannah ride forward to the comm tower. Rose prayed that they would be able to destroy it before the rest of the ground team went down. She fired at more troopers coming toward her, taking one down before they were able to hit Beaumont.  
  


A short while later Rose could see a small explosion coming from in front of her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that the comm tower went down.

However, the battle was not going in their favor. They were able to get the comm tower deactivated but the stormtroopers kept coming, pouring out from the transports and the air. Rose nearly got hit by a jet trooper flying overhead, but one of the members of the ground team took them down before they could do any more damage.  
  
Another red-armored jet trooper swooped down and shot at Connix, the shot grazing her arm just enough for her to go down. Rose quickly crouched down and asked, “Are you alright?”. Connix nodded, and both of them continued to shoot at the troopers surrounding them.

Finn, Jannah, and some of the ground team were running away from the explosion, quickly evading the stormtroopers’ blaster shots.

Rose was doing her best to keep the stormtroopers off Finn’s back, but one of them nearly hit him, the blaster bullet just missing his neck.  
  


More troopers went down as the Resistance continued to fight on. Everyone was fighting as hard as they could, but the ground team was slowly being thinned out by the Final Order. TIE fighters zoomed overhead and shot down more of Poe’s squadron. Rose could see two x-wings crash and burn, one crashing ahead on the hull of the _Steadfast_ and the other quickly falling toward the surface of Exegol.

Rose knew that their job was done, and they had to leave. Now. _Where’s Finn?_ she thought.

*” Finn, where are you? The lander’s leaving!” * she yelled into her commlink. No response. A blaster bolt nearly misses her leg.  
She frantically yelled again, *“Finn!” *  
*“Go without us. “* she finally heard him say. *“We’re taking this entire ship down.” *  
She turned around and asked, *“What? How?” *

*“We’re gonna hit the command deck.”, * he responds. She swears she could almost hear Finn take in a deep breath. *“Rose, please. Go.” *, he reassures her.

Rose stood still for a moment, confused and concerned about Finn. In the distance, she could see him rotate a turret around to face the _Steadfast’s_ bridge.

*“Rose.” * Beaumont and Connix say, concerned. Rose nods and the three of them quickly run back to the _Fortitude._  
  
As they ran inside, Rose saw the endless fleet stop firing at them. The Resistance fleet hung in the air as the comms burst with activity, everyone asking the same question Rose was asking herself: _Why did they stop?_

She hoped Finn would be alright…  
_Maybe we can go back and pick him and Jannah up before the fleet starts firing again…_ she thought.  
Most of all, Rose hoped that Rey had somehow managed to stop Palpatine below and that she was safe.  
But a gut feeling told her that something wasn’t quite right about any of this.


	3. Part I: The Battle of Exegol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out. I had to rewrite it because I didn't like how the end turned out and I want to deliver a quality fanfic for all of you. This chapter went through a few endings before settling on this one. Thank you for reading! Chapter 4 is going to be out soon!  
> Also I've updated the tags for this fic. This is now going to be an eventual Dark!Rey/Dark!Rose fic but that won't happen for a while.

Lightning crackled around a small rusty TIE fighter as it emerged from hyperspace. Kylo Ren, former leader of the First Order, sat in its small cockpit, the fighter creaking from years of disuse and Exegol’s hostile atmosphere.  
  
Kylo Ren had renounced his allegiance to the dark side back on Kef Bir, the site of the second Death Star’s ruin. His own parents had called to him on its rusted remains and revealed the truth to him. They still loved him. They forgave him, despite everything he had done, for things he felt were unforgivable. In that moment, he felt all his parent’s love toward him, and their regret at what had happened to him. He felt the light call him back, and he answered. He renounced the name “Kylo Ren” there, overlooking Kef Bir’s endless sea, and retook his original name of Ben Solo. He felt relief after retaking his old name. It felt like coming home after a long time of being away.  
  
Ben Solo expertly maneuvered the near derelict TIE fighter down to the surface of Exegol and the ancient temple of the Sith. Exegol was a place that was not unfamiliar to Ben. In what seemed like a previous life, he had come to Exegol at the request of the former Emperor, Palpatine, seeking power for himself and the First Order. Palpatine had requested that he kill the scavenger or make her fall to the dark side in order to fulfill his destiny. How ironic that Ben had now come back to Exegol to save her.

As he came close to landing near the ancient upside-down pyramid, he could see a worn X-wing sitting on the dirt, waiting for its owner to come back. He quickly landed the derelict TIE and jumped out.  
  
He could sense Rey’s presence in the Force inside the temple, but something felt off about it. At the same time, he could feel the overwhelming power of Palpatine as well, suffocating and hostile. He pushed down the rising dread in his body as he knew that he did not have much time before either she was taken by the dark side or was overwhelmed by Palpatine’s power. He bolted as fast as he could across the cracked earth and inside the temple, drawing a blaster he had found inside the TIE fighter’s cockpit.  
  
When he came to the hole in the floor that led to the lower levels of the temple, he leaped inside it using the Force, landing on a sand covered chain. Lightning illuminated the chamber he was in, the same place he came to before seeking power from the dark side.  
*” Ow.” * was the first word that came from his mouth since landing on Exegol. He had hit the chain with his body hard, but he was not injured as far as he could tell. He glanced at the stony ground beneath him, the cracks in the earth lighting the chamber with an eerie blue glow.  
He quickly scrambled down the chain and softly landed on the stone floor.  
  
Ben never realized how much the dark side had truly infected this place. He had drunk from its well the few times he had come here as Kylo Ren, but now, the dark side felt like it would overwhelm him with its sheer power. The dark side seemed to swarm around him, threatening him with its vengeance if he continued further. The statues seemed to grimace at him as if they disapproved of him and his recent decisions. He ignored it and ran as fast as he could toward the throne room.  
  
As Ben frantically ran, he could sense several dark presences through the Force. The Knights of Ren. His former elite soldiers, now serving his enemy.  
  
Ben could feel their hate for him burning through the Force, their rage at him for betraying the dark side and turning back to the light.  
He quickly moved through the blue-lit stone hallways, trying to evade their notice. Chanting came from the throne room, chilling him to his bones. He could sense Rey’s signature in the Force, but something about it had changed. It felt colder and harsher, like it did during their duel on Kef Bir. He could sense her hate for Palpatine pour from her into the Force. No, no, no. he thought to himself. He was not going to let Rey make the same mistake he made years ago. He had to hurry.  
  
He could see Palpatine’s Sovereign Protectors, the most elite soldiers that the Sith and Exegol had to offer. Ben could see a small group protecting the throne room, red armored and prepared to die for their cause. Thankfully, Ben was facing away from them, but he knew that if he weren’t careful, they would take him down without remorse. He had thrown his lightsaber away on Kef Bir, tossing it to the ocean so that it would be lost to its depths, but he had taken a worn blaster pistol from the ruins in its stead. He drew the blaster pistol from his belt and fired at the closest soldier to him. The shot landed, instantly killing them.  
  
Unfortunately, the other guard heard the firing of Ben’s blaster and started to fire back at him. As he ran, he used the Force to gauge where his target was and shot the other guard in the chest without looking back. They toppled to the floor, dead.  
Ben slowly crouched down and silently moved toward the entrance to the throne room. A cold shiver ran through his body as he got closer to the throne room. Rey’s presence was very close, he could tell. He could hear the ignition of a lightsaber, Rey’s lightsaber, and he quickened his pace through the cool stone hallways. He could sense a shift in the Force. Something bad was going to happen, and soon.

He placed his hand on the cool stone wall of the cavernous hallway and scanned the area for any more of the Sovereign Protectors or the Knights of Ren. He couldn’t see anything, but he could still sense the Knights looking for him. Hopefully, they wouldn’t find him before he could help Rey.  
  
He slowly moved toward the throne room, gripping his blaster pistol so tight that his knuckles turned white.  
  
He took a deep breath…

Suddenly a blade whizzed past his head, nearly missing the back of his neck. Ben rolled out of the way and turned to face his attacker. Trudgen. One of the Knights of Ren.

He dragged his crucible steel cleaver along the ground, preparing to raise it to strike at Ben again. Ben sensed his attack and dodged out of the way while Trudgen slammed the cleaver on the ground where Ben used to be. The cleaver clanged on the ground, echoing throughout the stone hallways. Trudgen turned to face Ben again, the hate eminent through his pieced-together mask. He grunted and lunged at Ben, the cleaver aiming for his ribcage. Ben barely dodged and stood hunched over, arms spread out, challenging Trudgen. Trudgen took Ben’s bait and charged at him, his rage at Ben enhanced by the dark side of the Force. He brought his enormous cleaver above his head and aimed it at Ben, screaming in rage as he slashed it down. Ben attempted to dodge but Trudgen’s cleaver sliced through part of Ben’s outfit and through part of the skin on his left side. He grasped his side in pain, grunting in pain and falling to his knees. His blaster fell from his hand onto the ground.  
  
Trudgen towered over him, his large cleaver glinting in the dim blue light of the stone hallway. He raised his blade again, intending for it to be the killing blow. Ben anticipated his action through the Force and ducked again around the large cleaver, the blade glancing the ground with another clang and another frustrated roar heard from Trudgen. Ben used the Force to bring the decrepit blaster to his hand and fired it, hitting Trudgen in his left knee. He grunted and glared at Ben, his hatred growing in the Force.

Ben cautiously stepped back, wary of Trudgen attempting to charge him again. He could sense that someone else was coming. _Another Knight of Ren?_ His answer came when another blade whizzed past his head again. Vicrul. Ben recognized the trademark phrik-coated scythe that Vicrul was fond of carrying and the mask covered in square pieces. He regretted tossing his lightsaber into the deep at Kef Bir, for all the good that would do him against Vicrul’s scythe, but at least he would have a chance. Vicrul swung the scythe in another deadly arc at Ben while Trudgen prepared to swing his cleaver. Ben stepped back from Trudgen’s large cleaver, but Vicrul came in and managed to slice open Ben’s thigh. He grunted and held his blaster toward them, aiming for Vicrul. He aimed and fired, the shot just missing Vicrul’s arm. Another swing of the scythe at Ben’s legs and his other leg was sliced open. Trudgen moved to swing at Ben’s arm, the blade barely missing it but enough to carve a piece of fabric off and make Ben grunt.

Suddenly Ben could feel a burst of pain shoot through his back. He groaned in pain as the blade tore into his back, painfully cutting through skin and muscle. He stumbled and fell onto the ground in front of Vicrul, gasping in pain. He turned his head to see Ap’lek stalk past his body and stand by his head, his battered mask looking like death itself had come to claim him. Ap’lek raised his executioner’s axe, prepared to do what his blade was created for when a familiar voice yelled out, “Enough!”.  
  
Ben could recognize that voice from anywhere. Rey. She had come. She was still alive. He almost breathed in relief, but he could sense there was something different about her now. She radiated power and her white hood was drawn up over her face. Ben could feel dread creep through him as he saw that her hazel eyes held a cold glint. He swore that her eyes now also had a slight yellowish tinge but maybe it was the pain shooting through his body that was making him see things.  
  
“Leave us.”, she commanded the Knights of Ren. Ben did not notice before but the other two Knights of Ren, Kuruk and Ushar, had accompanied Rey here, their blasters raised to protect her. All five of them left, leaving Ben and Rey alone in the cool hallway. Rey moved closer to Ben and kneeled beside his head. As she got closer to him Ben swore he could feel the air grow cooler around them. “I’m glad you came Ben.”, she said sweetly, although Ben could sense that Rey might not be as happy as she claimed. “You’ve showed me the power that I deserved to have all my life.” Ben was saddened by Rey’s words. As Kylo Ren, his goal was to turn Rey to the dark side and have her rule by his side. As Ben Solo, he wanted to prevent others from going down the same path he did. A path of suffering and regret.  
  
Rey continued, “You’ve changed Ben. You’ve abandoned the dark side, Why?”  
  
He responded, “Because all it led me to was suffering and hate.”  
  
She continues on, pleading, “The dark side has given me the power to save my friends, end the war and bring peace to the galaxy. Once peace comes, no one will have to suffer like I did. Like anyone has. Reclaim the power of the dark side, Ben. Let it fill you with its power and you too can help bring about true peace in the galaxy.”  
  
Ben sighs. He could tell that Rey had already fallen and been tempted by the dark side. He hated to admit that the prospect of going back to the dark side was tempting. He remembered the conversation he had on the remains of the Death Star with his father. How his parents loved and missed him, despite everything he had done. When he felt his mother’s death, he could feel the love she still held for him and the redeeming power of the light side radiating from her, even at the end.  
  
“No, Rey.”, he says sadly. “I can’t. The dark side has brought me nothing but pain. It will do the same to you.”  
  
Rey spat out, “Then you are weak. Too weak to embrace true power. I pity you, Ben. If only you could feel what I feel now, then you would understand.”  
  
Ben slowly gets up off the floor and kneels on the ground, the pain in his body difficult to bear. He glances at Rey, hoping that somehow, he could pierce the dark veil that enveloped her mind and bring her back to the light. He gently nudged her mind with the Force, attempting to show her the relief he felt at abandoning the dark side, showing her that he understood why she chose this path. His fear at waking up and seeing Luke standing in front of him, his lightsaber raised to kill Ben. The never-ending voices that Ben heard in his head over the years, persuading him that the dark side was the only way to power and success. How he felt the pressure of being the son of galactic heroes, the people around them expecting so much from him and how he hated himself for disappointing them so often.  
  
Rey swiftly pushed back in anger, filling his mind with the pain and hunger she experienced every day on Jakku. The way she counted the days until her parents returned, and the occasional lucid moment of realization that they might never return. The way she persisted through the intense heat for miniscule scraps of food. The hate she felt toward Unkar and her parents for doing the absolute bare minimum for her or abandoning her on Jakku. How she felt when Leia told her about Ben and how he fell to the dark side. How jealous and angry she felt after realizing that he had a loving family that he threw away. The sadness and rage she felt after seeing Kylo kill Han, someone she considered a father to her in the short time they knew each other. The protectiveness she felt for her friends, the few people to ever show her love in her life. She cared for them deeply and wanted them to be safe, no matter what.

He could see a flurry of emotions cover Rey’s face, from anger, to sadness, to despair. He could feel her pain in the Force stabbing him like a thousand invisible knives but withdrawing soon after. Ben knew that Rey was hurting deep within, and she had found a temporary way to relieve her pain by choosing the dark side.

Rey sighed and looked at Ben, “I chose the dark side to save my friends. It is the only way to make sure they’re safe. I want you to be safe too, Ben.”  
  
Ben had a feeling he knew what Rey was going to ask him. “Rey, please.”

Too late. She had already made her decision. She reached out her hand toward him. “Join me Ben. Embrace power once again and help me bring peace to the galaxy.” Ben’s mind flashed back to Snoke’s throne room on the Supremacy where he made Rey a very similar offer. He regretted it, now.  
  
Rey ranted on, becoming more crazed as she continued, “Think about it, Ben. Don’t you realize that with our combined power, the galaxy would finally be at peace? No more war, pain, suffering, hunger, or injustice. We would create a new empire, one that will bring peace to a galaxy that has suffered too long.”  
  
“Rey, please, this isn’t the way-”, Ben pleads with her.  
  
“The way to what? I’m trying to help you, Ben. Help you and everyone become what they were meant to be. Why don’t you understand?” she asks him.

“Rey, I know how the dark side makes you feel. It gives you solutions to problems you struggle with. It makes you feel wanted and accepted. But it will betray you.”  
  
“No, Ben. You’re wrong. “The dark side has helped me save my friends from dying here.”

“But at what cost, Rey?” Ben says sadly.  
  
He could see Rey’s face become sad and slightly confused. She took a deep breath and said, “All my life I’ve wanted to feel connected to others, to have a family. I have my friends, my family now, and there is nothing in this galaxy that I wouldn’t do to protect them. Wouldn’t you do the same thing, Ben? Wouldn’t you do anything to protect the people you love?”

Ben thought for a bit about Rey’s questions. _Would he go back to the dark side to save someone he felt connected to? That maybe, on some level, he loved?_  
He sighed again and remembered everything that had happened to him since he joined the dark side years ago. _How Palpatine as how Snoke had used him as a weapon against the Resistance, against his own family. How the dark side had influenced him to deliver the killing blow to his own father on Starkiller Base. Ben still saw Han’s face in his dreams, the look of love mixed with a tinge of regret still etched onto his face and in Ben’s mind. The way Han’s rough but gentle hand held his face, showing that even at the end, he still loved Ben despite it all. It had shaken Ben to his core, splitting his soul between the dark and the light._  
  
_Snoke was harsher with his punishments after that, trying to stamp out the last bit of light in Ben Solo so that Kylo Ren would take his place. Ben remembered trying time and time again to stamp out that light, but Han’s last moments on Starkiller Base would haunt his dreams, trying to pull him back to the light. He remembered the times that his mother called out to him in the Force, back in his private chamber on the Finalizer. How she tried to call him back home and show that she still loved him. He often ignored her, lost in his own pain and anger toward her._

_He thought of the time on the Supremacy when he offered Rey his hand. He wanted to turn her to the dark side then, to have her serve alongside him as his apprentice as they wiped out the last of the Resistance in the galaxy. Only then he felt he would be able extinguish the last of the light within him and find his true power. But that had failed. Rey had left._

_He thought he would receive answers on Mustafar from the oracle in the lake, but he had only been led here to this accursed world and discovered that Palpatine was still alive. He knew Palpatine could sense Ben’s struggles in the Force. He had promised him a way out too, and unlike Snoke, he had delivered in every way except for one. Rey. The only other person besides his parents that tried to push him back to the light. Every time Rey had evaded his sight and grasp. She was persistent and Ben knew the truth about her past, that she was a Palpatine and held great power in her lineage. He remembered the shock that overcame her face as he told her the truth. That she now knew the dark power contained within her._

_On Kef Bir, he sensed that something had changed in Rey. Something darker had started to bubble to the surface within her. She had willingly attacked him, using the dark side to enhance her combat abilities even further, attacking him with a feral fury that he had only seen once, when they first fought on Starkiller Base._  
  
_They fought upon the ruins of the Death Star and only stopped when they both felt Leia’s death in the Force. With Leia’s final breath, he could still hear the words on her lips say to him, “I love you.” As Rey healed the deep wound she had given him with his own lightsaber, he knew that his mother’s death had changed Rey too. She told him tearily, “I did want to take your hand. Ben’s hand.”_

_He sat up in shock at her words and as he watched her take his ship, he knew that the light had started to break apart the darkness within him. His father had come to him later as Ben overlooked Kef Bir’s seas atop a metal cliff, lost in thought. Ben could sense his father’s love through the Force and knew that he still loved him after everything. Han had taken Ben’s face in his hands, as he did before his death on Starkiller Base, but instead of attempting to extinguish the love and light flooding him, Ben embraced it and extinguished the darkness instead. With that, Kylo Ren had died and Ben Solo was reborn. Ben knew that he had to help Rey because in a way, he loved her. He cared about her as she cared about him. But the dark side wasn’t the way to save her. She had told him that herself on Kef Bir._  
  
He glanced back up at Rey with tears in his eyes and said, “I can’t join you. The dark side only pushed me further away from the people I loved Rey.”

Rey started to tense up. He could sense that she was starting to get angry.

“You know this isn’t the way to save them.”, he added.

“You lie. Without me, without the power I’ve reclaimed, they would have died here. I couldn’t let that happen.”, she spit out.

Rey reached out her hand again and pleaded, “I’m offering you this last chance Ben. Join me and help heal the galaxy. Help make things right for everyone.”

Ben shook his head and begged, “No, Rey. I can’t. I can help you though. Bring you back to the light. We can heal the galaxy together. You’ll help so many more people by coming back.”

“You don’t know or understand me Ben. This is the only way to help my friends and myself. The dark side has given me that power.” Rey coldly states.  
“You don’t believe that’s true.” Ben pleads.

“I know it is.”, Rey withdraws her hand. “I’m not going to kill you Ben. I want you to see that I’m right. To see the new empire that I will build. An empire of peace, of belonging, of love. Then you will understand why I’ve made my decision.”

Ben hesitantly stood up. Pain still shot through his body even though he had been lying down for who knows how long. He had endured the pain for Rey and the dyadic bond they shared. He would keep enduring it as long as he was able.

“I’m not leaving without you, Rey.”, he says.

“Oh, you won’t be leaving.”, she responds coldly, staring Ben directly in the eye.

“Stun him.” she commands to two cloaked red figures that suddenly emerged from the darkness.  
Ben understood too late what was about to happen as both figures raised their weapons and shot blue arcs of light at him, aiming for his chest. Rey intends to keep me here., he realized as the arcs of light hit his chest, making his vision go dark.

Rey watched Ben fall to the floor with a gleeful grin on her face. She knew it wouldn’t be long before he woke up. She had to hurry and make sure he was safe before he did.

She knelt down beside him and sweetly whispered, “Goodnight Ben. Hopefully when you wake up, you’ll come to your senses and see that I’m right.”

“Take him away. Hurt him and you will pay the price.”, she coldly commanded to the cloaked red soldiers. They both holstered their weapons and lifted Ben up, each one holding one side of his body. They left, leaving Rey alone in the hallway. _Soon my friends will finally be here with me, including my dear Rose. Soon they will all see that I only want the best for them and that I love them._ , Rey thought to herself.

She swiftly turned around and followed them. The Battle of Exegol had not finished yet, and Rey needed to see to the Resistance’s capture and downfall.


End file.
